Composer: George Frideric Handel
Performer: Kammerchor Stuttgart
Orchestra: Barockorchester Stuttgart
Conductor: Frieder Bernius
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Carus
Catalogue: CAR83475
Release: 2016
Size: 230 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Messiah, HWV 56
Part I
01. No. 1, Sinfony
02. No. 4, And the glory of the Lord
03. No. 7, And He shall purify
04. No. 11, For unto us a child is born
05. No. 15, Glory to God in the highest
06. No. 18, His yoke is easy
Part II
07. No. 19, Behold the Lamb of God
08. No. 21, Surely He hath borne our griefs
09. No. 22, And with His stripes we are healed
10. No. 23, All we, like sheep
11. No. 25, He trusted in God
12. No. 30, Lift up your heads
13 .No. 33, The Lord gave the word
14. No. 35, Their sound is gone out
15. No. 37, Let us break their bonds asunder
16. No. 39, Halleluja
Part III
17. No. 41, Since by man came death
18. No. 45, But thanks be to God
19. No. 47, Worthy is the Lamb / No. 48, Amen
Already during his lifetime Handel’s “Messiah” became his most frequently performed work, achieving virtually cult status. The many outstanding choruses in this oratorio are among the most beloved, well known pieces in the history of choral music. This new CD contains all of the choruses from the internationally acclaimed CD recording conducted by Frieder Bernius. The special sound and musical refinement displayed by his ensembles – the Stuttgarter Kammerchor and the Barockorchester Stuttgart which, according to the MDR Figaro (April 2009) breathe “liveliness and new energy” into the work and make it a most musically exciting listening experience.
The venerable Kammerchor Stuttgart and Barockorchester Stuttgart under their conductor Frieder Bernius have generally been oriented toward historically informed performances of unusual Baroque and Classical repertory. Handel’s Messiah is anything but unusual, but doing only the choruses qualifies: part of why the large-scale architecture of Messiah is so compelling involves the balance between chorus and solos. Would an audience of Handel’s time have valued a collection of the choruses? It’s possible. At any rate, it’s refreshing to hear a performance of Messiah that’s devoid of the longstanding British and American traditions associated with the work. There is just a slight German accent in the choir’s diction, but it doesn’t detract from the overall effect; Handel himself had a considerably heavier one. The light touch of the choir is entirely divorced from the work’s tradition of mighty sounds, but it succeeds on its own terms: if you want a completely different kind of “Hallelujah Chorus”, sample the smooth-sounding track 16 and listen to the way Bernius’ performance catches the chains of motives that form the substructure of the weighty edifice. The Kammerchor Stuttgart has been honed over several decades into a virtuoso ensemble. They do best in the pieces where Handel writes Bachian melodies, but they are also formidable in dense counterpoint. Certainly qualifying as offbeat, this recording is recommended to fans of Bernius’ choir and is worth the sampling time of others.